“For an economy that is desperate to snap out of 20 years of deflation this is a huge shot in the arm,” said Evan Lucas, market strategist at IG Markets in Melbourne, who estimated the price tag would fall somewhere between the $13.9 billion spent for the London 2012 games and the $43 billion on the 2008 Beijing games.

a huge shot in the arm是什么意思呢？ 是指日本经济在经历了20多年的紧缩之后会复苏吗？

My comments:

A shot in the arm is an American slang for taking an injection of medicine, to cure one of an illness. Or perhaps it is a narcotic injection, which gives drug users a high.

Either way, you may always safely infer that a shot in the arm means a boost, an uplifting act of encouragement.

In our example, Japan getting the nod for hosting the 2020 Olympics is considered a “huge shot in the arm”, or a great boost.

A huge boost, undoubtedly, to an economy that’s been stagnant for 20 years.

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本文仅代表作者本人观点，与本网立场无关。欢迎大家讨论学术问题，尊重他人，禁止人身攻击和发布一切违反国家现行法律法规的内容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin（张欣） has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.